Atomizing apparatus



Nov. 13, 1951 D. D. PEEBLES ATOMIZING APPARATUS Original Filed July 3,1942 2 SHEETS-SHEET l J/ 6/ 62 INVENTOR.

flamaflPeebZaa Nov. 13, 1951 Original Filed July 3, 1942 D. D. PEEBLESATOMIZING APPARATUS 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR.

Eel/la Z2 Peeblea,

Patented Nov. 13, 1951 lmrornzme APPARATUS nation.reeblesznillsborouh,'Ga fi, i nor to "Golden State'fCompany, Ltd, San Francisco,

Calif., anorporation of Delaware :Driginal :applica'tion :July 13,'1942, eSerial No. 449,653. .-Divided.am1 thisaDPlication-Jalnuary '30,.1947,\SerialsNo.- 725,2.34'

--2"Glaims. (Cl. 299- 63) 1 t This invention relates to a new andimproved atomizing apparatus.

:It is an objectrofi-sthis inventionlto tprov-idexa new and improvedatomizing :apparatus, especiallyz-adaptedfor:theitreatment ofviscous-substances in s an vefficient," satisfactory; and relatively.zinexpensive manner."

:Afurther object of thisdnvention is to provide an apparatus that may.zbesusedcfor :OOOling or drying highlyiviscoussubstances, such as, forin stancepcornnsyrupp molasses andr-rtheilike. tWhen used 'foridrying,thisapparatuswutilizes the combinediactionoilzsurfaceievaporati'on;andisimultaneous boiling of moisture from". the:interiorao'f minutesparticles of ssuchlmaterials.

iThesxsubJ' ectematter constituting thisinventionwasaclividedifromzapplicants disclosurezset forth in U. S. Patent'::No.2115;52'7, issuediEebruary'll, 1947. Fhe atomizing apparatushererdiscioseo and claimed; iszthe same. as that (disclosedsaid patentbutz;not:specifically claimedtherein; ;In said patent, a fulldescription'will be found of a complete atomizing and desiccatingapparatus including the chamber} conducting pipes, and similar parts.:For aifull understanding of such apparatus, reference is ma'de to thespecification of said patent.

Itsis to be understoorlathat'the'atomizing apparatus here described andclaimed isadapted to" be used in conjunction with :differenttypes: ofapparatus, but=for 'thedisclosure ofone illustrative form, reference ismade "to said patent.

.In' the: accompanying drawings-- l Figrure lis an enlarged elevationalview in cross section of the :upper central portion of the dryingapparatus shown in such Letters Pattent No.- 23415527, which-moreclearly shows the construction of the rotary runner orso-called basketandits associatedparts. V

Figure 2 is a cross sectionalview-takenonfthe line 2 2' of Figure landlooking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a slightly-enlarged-viewof-the upper" end of the drier; andI Figure 4 is a fragmentaryplan view showing the upper part of the"drier as it TWOllld appear when looking down uponit. V I f It will benoted that 'thesefigures correspond toFigures 2 -to'-'5,' inclusive, ofsaid patent.

Referring now to thejdrawings it will be-notedj that the runnerorrotaryatomizing device "comprises a horizontally clisposed-circularmember'il formed of a lowergpart :5|;:-.and;:an upper part 52. At the,periphery of, the. lowerpart 5 Larea plura-lity""o'f spaced 1ugs"53which are separated one fromthe other by angularlydisposed slots '54(see Figure 2). "These lugs collectivelyiorm an annular support on whichrests the outer edge of'the" upper member *52. The uppermember-52 has aseries of similarly formed lugs E i-which are separated by angular-1ydisposed slots 55,as more'c'learly shown in Figure 2. It will be-notedparticularly that the angularly 'disposed. 'slots- 55 of the inner ring'attached to the upper member 52;, extend-in a direction ;opposite tothat of the slos -'54 of 'the outer ring. It will also-be observed thatthe" inner series of lugs also form a supporting surface, 'butthese'depend from the upper members 5-2= into position for engagementwith theepposed or lower member 5|. The upper and -lower-members of therunner are 1 preferably held together by bolts 56 which extend throughthe peripheries thereof, as clearly-shown in Figures 'l and-2.

From the foregoing}description; it :will be apparent thatthe runnerisyprovided with an internal space 51 adapted-toreceive the'material tobe desiccatedand thatthe space'el" has communication with theexteriorthrough the slots means ofthe nut 62. The sleeve" BI is heldlonlther shaft by means of the nut .63 which is ,locledin--positionp1bythe nut'62. Thenopening in, the upper member 52, issufficientl large to" provide a-spacei't i between the innenedge of therunner andnthe sleeve for theflpurpose of. accommodatingaxfee'dingbowl,hereinafter more fully-described.

iiIhe shaftj 6E1 extendslupwardly beyond the upperwall I! of the drying,chamber and is equipped witha pulley 6 5'mounted. ontheupper-endthereoffby means .o fithe nut 66. ,The upper endof the shaftis mounted inanlantifriction-l bearing designatedgenerally 61, which vis suitably-mounted serves as a mounting for a collar lznwh-iehg-in turnserves as a mounting for a suitable anti- By means of the foregoingapparatus, it is found that the high speed of rotation which is employedserves to build up a pressure opposing the outward centrifugal feed ofthe material through the runner; and that the feeding of the material inopposition to such pressure, coupled with the instantaneous and promptrelease thereof into the drying atmosphere, causes a rise in temperaturefrom a point slightly below the boilthe drying chamber and itconstitutes the inner J wall of an annular feeding passage for hotdrying gas.

As more clearly shown in Figure 4, the pulley 85 on the upper end of theshaft 60 may be driven by a suitable motor 8| connected by means of thebelt or other gearing element 82. The container '83, shown in Figures 1and 4, are for lubricant for ing point to a point above the boilingpoint, with the; result that an instantaneous boiling and dryingiseffected at the instant the material is atomized and exists in finelydivided form in the drying space.

For purposes of illustration, the following specific examples of actualruns carried out with the apparatus of this invention will now be given.

' These operations involved the treatment of com the upper and lowerantifriction bearings, re-

spectively.

From the above description, it will be apparent that the runner isadapted to be mounted in the upper end of the drying chamber, and thatit is capable of being given a relatively high speed of rotation bymeans of the electric motor.

The material to be desiccated is fed to the runner by means of pipes90-90 which extend downwardly from a point above the upper wall of thedesiccating chamber into the annular space defined by the cylindricalwall 80. These pipes extend down below the lower edge of the wall 80,or, in other words, into the upper portion of the drying chamber, andare caused to bend at right angles so as to extend horizontally and thento communicate tangentially with the upper, outer edges of an annularfeeding bowl Hi. This feeding bowl fits within the space providedbetween the inner surface of the upper wall 52 of the runner and thecollar 6! of the shaft, and it serves to effectively close. such space.The annular bowl 9| is provided with a series of windows 92 around itsouter cylindrical face, which communicate directly with the interiorspace 51 of the bowl. Any suitable number of windows may be employed,but it is found that goodresults are obtained when six windows areemployed.

The tangential feed of the material to be desiccated through the pipes90-90 acts to give the material being treated a rotary motion within theannular bowl, the direction of which is opposite to that of thedirection of rotation of the runner itself. It is to be understood thatthe runner rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow of Figure 2,or, in other words, a direction opposing the outlet openings at the endsof the slots 53.

The manner of feeding and discharging the material through the runner,according to this invention, is efiective to impart to the materialundergoing treatment the energy required to raise its temperature to andabove the boiling point in the manner hereinbefore' pointed out; Theheated air which comes in at the top through the duct I 4a, passesthrough the annular air space provided by the sleeve 22 and the innerwall 80, and in passing therethrough it is preferably given at least aslight rotary motion which in most instances will be concurrent with thedirection of rotation of the runner. In addition, and as shown in saidPatent No. 2,415,257 good results will be obtained when currents of airare introduced at the lower part of the drying chamher, so as to createa swirl rotating in a direction opposite or counter to the direction ofrotation of the runner.

syrup, which was sprayed from the nozzle at approximately 385 Baum andBaum, respectively:

Example No. 1

The first run is the 385 Baum run, which was carried out under thefollowing conditions: The temperature of the material fed to the runnerwas approximately 210 F. The inlet temperature of the air fed int thedrying chamber was between 326 F. and 344 F. The temperature of thetangent inlets was approximately 189 F. to 192 F. The temperature of theoutlet gas was approximately 229 F. to 238 F. Approximately 71.37% ofsolids were recovered, and the output of commercial product for the unitas run was 2525 pounds per hour.

The atomizing runner Was 12 inches in diameter and was operated by ahorsepower motor, which was operated at 3450 revolutions per minute whenthe runner was under load.

The atomizer was operated by a 3 inch pulley carried on the runnershaft, which in turn was driven by a 10 /2 inch pulley on the motor.

Example No. 2

A similar run was carried out with 40 Baum syrup in which the materialwas supplied to the runner at a temperature between 208 F. and 210 F.The inlet temperature of the drying gas was 336 F. to 340 F. The tangenttemperature was between 196 F. and 200 F. The outlet temperature wasbetween 228 F. and 236 F.

The runner, motor, and runner drive, as well as the revolutions perminute, were the same as in the first example. In this run, the outputof commercial product was 2828 pounds per hour.

Example No. 3

Example No. 4

A run was conducted in all respects like the run of Example No. 1, withthe exception, however, that the material was fed to the runner at atemperature of approximately 224 F. A product having a slightlydifferent physical form resulted,

' and the product was in all respects an excellent commercial product.

4 Example No.5

15 A was conducted in all respects like the" run of Example No. 1, withthe exception, however, that the material was fed to the runner at atemperature of approximately 228 F. A product having a slightlydifferent physical form resulted, and the product was in all respects anexcellent commercial product.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention provides anapparatus by which the substance to be desiccated, such as syrup, isbrought to the nozzle under a temperature and pressure relationshipwhich is closely approaching the boiling point of the substance treated,and that through the action of the nozzle itself, additional energyderived from the motion of the nozzle is imparted to the material, withthe result that heat is added to the material and the temperaturethereof is increased; and finally, that the material is suddenlyreleased into the zone of low pressure, whereby an instantaneousflashing and boiling of the water present takes place, which isproductive of an instantaneous drying of the material.

It is recognized that it is old to deliver substances of thistype tonozzles under pressure and at temperatures above the boiling point, andapplicant does not make any claim to such procedure, but the applicantdoes contend that it is novel to subject material being treated to theaction of a nozzle or atomizing device while the same is undergoing arapid and extensive movement at a temperature-pressurerelationship-below the boiling point of the material, and to impart tothe material kinetic energy derived from the motion of the nozzle oratomizing device, and finally to cause the substance to be suddenlyreleased into an atmosphere of lower pressure, with the result that itstemperature is instantaneously raised above the boiling point throughthe energy conversion and a consequent boiling and drying of the productoccurred.

The atomizer is also intended to be used in operations other than dryingoperations. In fact, it can be used wherever an atomization of liquidproducts is desired. Hence, it can be used in cooling apparatus formolten syrup and the like.

What is claimed is:

1. A centrifugal atomizing device adapted to be mounted on a rotarymember, comprising top and bottom Walls fixed to rotate with said rotarymember and defining with said rotary member an annularmaterial-receiving space therebetween, an annular member surroundingsaid space located between said walls and disposed coaxially therewith,substantially straight elongated slots of relatively narrow widthextending through said annular member and extending at an angle to theradius of said device and in clined toward the direction of rotationthereof, and a second annular member disposed inside of and coaxiallywith said first-named annular member and having substantially straight,elongated slots of relatively narrow width extending at an angle to theradius of said device and in the direction opposite to the angulardirection of the slots in said first-named annular member.

2. A centrifugal atomizer of the construction defined in claim 1,further characterized in that one of said annular members is formedintegral with said top wall and the other of said annular members isformed integral with said bottom .wall, and detachable means areprovided for holding said parts in assembled relation.

DAVID D. PEEBLES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,468,118 McLachlan Sept. 18,1923 2,238,364 Hall Apr. 15, 1941 2,294,221 Bowen Aug. 25, 19422,333,150 Bowen Nov. 2, 1943 2,357,050 McCrum Aug. 29, 1944 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 761,881 France Jan. 13, 1934

